WARNING: Child abuse is in this chapter. If this topic bothers you, do not read the following part between the horizontal lines that is in italics.


Jesse sobbed and curled up in a ball, shaking violently as a foot slammed violently into her back, her stomach, everywhere except for her face. "I'm sorry!" she sobbed out. "I'm sorry, daddy!"

"WHAT THE F**K HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT CALLING ME THAT?!" A blinding pain exploded in Jesse's cheek, and the thirteen-year-old scrambled away with another bawl. "I AM NOT YOUR DADDY, YOU LITTLE B**CH!"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, s-sir!" A gasp was forced out of Jesse's lungs as he kicked her in the stomach again, the girl curling up in the tightest ball on the floor that she could, trying so hard not to cry and make him even angrier.

"IT'S YOUR FAULT YOUR MOTHER'S GONE, YOU LITTLE SH*T!" he screamed again, voice cracking in rage as he tried to stomp on the little girl. "DON'T YOU DARE TRY TO PLAY THE VICTIM!"

Jesse shook her head furiously, scrambling backwards in an attempt to get away from him. "I won't! I won't! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" she wailed as she felt her back run into the corner of the kitchen. And she was all out of places to run.

She looked back up at the man who was silhouetted against the light, a beer bottle clutched in his hand, the putrid stink of cigarette smoke and alcohol mixed together mingling in the air. "I-I'm s-s-sorry..."

He knelt down so that he was on her level, making her flinch as she saw his hand tightening on the beer bottle. His voice was no longer an enraged scream, but more of a gravelly snarl filled with pure hatred. "Sorry isn't going to bring your mother back, now is it you pathetic little sh*t?" he growled at her softly.

His voice rose back to a nearly hysterical scream. "IS IT?!"

He swung the beer bottle right at her face, the thirteen-year-old letting out a cry of fear and flinging her arms up over her face in fear.


Jesse bolted upright, her fist shoved in her mouth as she tried to keep herself from screaming. She couldn't scream, she wouldn't scream, she was sobbing silently in fear, tears were pouring down her face and mixing with the sweat, her stomach was screaming in pain, she couldn't scream, because if she screamed, her father would-

Slowly, her panicked storm of thoughts calmed back down as she remembered where she was, her body no longer insisting that she was in pain, her fist coming out of her mouth slowly to show teeth marks all over the knuckles from where she'd been biting hard enough to draw blood, as evidenced by the metallic taste in her mouth and the blood covering her fist. She was covered in blood, sweat, and tears right now- literally.

Shakily, she pushed herself out of the bed and headed to the bathroom to wash her hand off. The cuts on her knuckles stung as she almost mechanically rinsed the blood off her hands using hot water before wrapping a bandage around it to hide the teeth marks.

She glanced up at the mirror, tear streaks all down her face. She disguised the damage by washing her face as quietly as she could, before padding down towards the kitchen. Maybe she'd make something for herself to drink so she wasn't in such a bad state.

But when she got down to the kitchen, she found that she wasn't the only one still up. Ivor was sitting at the table with his arms crossed, watching the brewing station with careful eyes to make sure whatever he was brewing wasn't going to boil over. He must've dragged it up from the library in the basement.

Jesse thought about simply heading back to her room, but she was still in a hot panic from the nightmare-memory she'd just had, so she simply cleared her throat a bit to let him know she was there.

Ivor turned around to see her at the last moment, eyebrow going up. "Oh. You?"

"Um... hi," she said meekly, lifting her hand in a little wave.

Ivor squinted at her for a moment, before asking, "What are you doing up at 3 in the morning?"

Oh, so that's what time it was.

"I- couldn't sleep," Jesse said, edging into the room tentatively.

He nodded absentmindedly and glanced at the brewing station he'd set up quickly. "You had a nightmare too?" he asked, keeping an eye on the brewing stand.

"Y- yes," Jesse said at last, after she'd racked her brain for a reason to tell him a fib about what had happened but instead finding nothing.

He didn't ask for details, just hummed and glanced at the brewing stand. "Do you want me to brew you a calming potion as well? This one's only a quarter of the way done, and I think I can toss another one onto the stand. I can flavor it for you, too, if you'd like."

"O-oh?" Jesse edged into the room fully now, her curiosity peaked. "How do you flavor a potion?"

Ivor shrugged, although if you looked closely it was obvious that he was pleased that she was showing interest in this. "If you add an extra reagent to what you intend to use, it adds a bit of flavor to the potion. Magma cream and glistering melon makes something that tastes remarkably like strawberries, and sugar and a golden apple makes a taste like a candy apple."

"Oh... um... then can I have sugar and a golden apple added to mine?" Jesse asked tentatively.

Ivor shrugged and shoved himself back to his feet. "Alright." Moving quickly, he'd finished adding the extra reagents to the water-like mixture with a faint swirl of blue to it and popped it onto the brewing stand a minute later, before hopping into his seat again. Jesse had slowly made her way into one of the chairs and was watching him warily.

"You're good with potions, aren't you?" she asked, tilting her head to one side.

Ivor simply shrugged again in answer. "Well, I do know more tricks and shortcuts than the average person, I suppose. I suppose I'm alright at it," he replied briefly.

The black-haired girl hummed in answer, before pausing. "Um, thank you... but why are you...?" Jesse began to ask, before realizing she was probably being rude and shutting her mouth.

The man arched his eyebrow at her, before realizing what she was probably about to ask. "Oh, why am I being so nice?"

"..." Jesse's silence confirmed that this was, indeed, the question she'd been about to ask. Ivor simply sighed and shook his head with a shrug. "I'm not entirely sure myself. Perhaps I'm tired of seeing myself act like a villain onscreen. Maybe it's the fact that in this alternative path to the future, you and I were close at one point. Or it's possible that I'm just bored. I'm really unsure about it."

"... oh."

The two of them sat in a rather uncomfortable silence until the potions were finally finished, Ivor taking both of them off the brewing stand and then passing Jesse hers. It looked much the same as the calming potion he'd been using, except with gold flakes floating in the liquid along with flecks of sugar.

Jesse looked at it for a moment suspiciously, wondering how the liquid could look so... bizarre and still taste as he'd said, before watching Ivor sip at his and taking her own little sip cautiously.

"... ohhhh."

The sigh of relief that came out of her mouth was quite unprompted by the girl. He hadn't been joking; the mixture tasted like a liquidized candy apple with spices added to it, and the calming potion itself was extremely effective, making her shoulders drop back down from where they'd been tensed for the past several minutes.

Ivor's lips twitched a bit in amusement against his will. "I take it from that you like it?"

"It's wonderful," Jesse sighed, taking another sip from the still-hot potion, and then another. He smiled a bit, the first time she'd actually seen him do it in real life, and then took a sip from his own potion.

This time, the silence that settled over the two of them was much more comfortable, until Ivor finished his potion and put the bottle away in the sink. "Alright, that should do it for tonight..." he sighed, before heading towards the door. "Good night, Jesse."

"G'night, dad."

He stopped in the doorway, and Jesse felt her eyes widen in shock as she realized what she'd just called the man. Slowly, Ivor turned back around to look at Jesse, barely lit by the lantern hovering over their heads. For a few long moments, they just stared at each other in surprise, both sets of eyes wide.

"Would... that make you happy, then?"

The question that came out of Ivor's mouth was awkwardly stilted, yet, in a way, almost shy. It was also confusing, and Jesse tilted her head at him. He quickly clarified, "Would it make you happy... to think of me as your father?" He still sounded awkward about it.

Jesse didn't say anything, but she was almost certain that her face was stating the answer to that as a very blatantly obvious 'yes'.

Ivor's gaze slowly softened, and the man turned around slowly so that he was facing Jesse directly. "... alright, then." He came back over and set his hand on Jesse's head, in a slow sort of pat, making the air in Jesse's lungs freeze. "I guess I'm your dad for now."

Jesse just sat there for a moment in this surprised stupor as Ivor removed his hand again and headed for the door again. He paused in the doorway again, making Jesse actively look up at him, one hand still tight on the potion bottle in her hand. "Oh, to answer your earlier question..."

"Ah- which question would that be?" Jesse asked, unsurely.

"About why I'm being so nice?" Ivor hesitated, before sending her one last strange smile. "I think I know the answer to that now."

"Oh." Jesse paused, looking down, before back up at him again. "I... think I know the answer too."

"Good, it saves me from having to explain it to you." This made Jesse chuckle a bit as Ivor walked out of the kitchen without another backwards glance.

Jesse paused, before realizing she was still clutching the potion bottle in her hand. Even thought only a few minutes before she'd been sure that it was rather cool now, it suddenly felt extremely warm again as she sipped the remaining ounce or so of the potion.

She had a dad again.

She had friends now.

She was okay now.

Jesse didn't have any more nightmares that night.


A/N: Naawwwwww, Ivor and Jesse family fluff x3

Okay, but seriously, the second part flooded me with fluffiness. Be forewarned that the family fluff is gonna start getting real later on in the story, especially around Episode 4 and onwards.

RQTC: Would you rather be chained to Hadrian for a day, or be chained to Cassie Rose for a day?

Probably the second one, especially if she's Hybrid Cassie. Hybrid Cassie is nice. Admittedly she swears a lot, and she's violent, but I like her xD

Kaos Ruin: Yay you got the reference! xD

S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: She really isn't, lol xD

AquaK13: Okey xD

MissyMattingly: Aww that sucks xD

Darkbeast Dend: Um, luck!

Emily The Avenger: Coolio :3

x.X. A.L. X.x